Never Let Me Go
by LostSparrow
Summary: Cato has had enough of the ghosts and memories that haunt him and decides there's only one thing he can do to be free. (Warning: contains mature content which may be hard for some to read. I'm sorry if I'm hurting your favorite character... Please don't hate me.)


**_A/N: Hi guys! I'm back writing Hunger Games things :) So this is a songfic using the amazing song "Never let me go" by Florence and the Machine. Warning, this is not a happy story by any means and talks about suicide. If this will cause any triggers with suicide or cutting or anything at all, please don't read as I don't want anyone to feel upset by this. Alright, enough of me, please try to somewhat enjoy reading or just please don't hate me afterwards :P_**

_Looking up from underneath_

_Fractured moonlight on the sea_

_Reflections still look the same to me_

_As before I went under._

Cato stands on the edge of the water. He's been here for almost an hour and his toes have gone numb due to the icy temperature. He breathes deeply, trying to calm down but instead he finds his mind wandering back to the Seam girl. He wonders if she will be mad at him when she finds out what he is planning to do. She would probably get the news tomorrow or perhaps the day after.

_And it's peaceful in the deep_

_Cathedral where you cannot breathe_

_No need to pray, no need to speak_

_Now I am under all._

_And it's breaking over me_

_A thousand miles down to the sea bed_

_Found the place to rest my head._

He feels almost cowardly for resorting to this, but he can't live with himself anymore. His whole life he's built this reputation for himself; tough, arrogant, ruthless and a killer. Maybe he was a few of these things... Tough? Yeah, that's for sure. Arrogant? Maybe a bit. Ruthless and a killer? No... That's not right. He was not some mindless killing machine, but being raised in District 2 he was told a simple rule; be a killer or be an outcast. So he had to become a killer. He had to learn how to easily slice someone's head off, how to snap someones neck, how to hit someone so hard that their nose will break. But that's not who he wanted to be, it was who he was forced to be. But he was a good actor and everyone was convinced that he was this image that he created for himself.

Well, everyone expect one girl.

Katniss saw through his façade. It was because she built an image for herself too, one very similar to his; tough, emotionless and ruthless. That's the funny thing about people who can be so convincing who hide themselves behind facades, they can always pick out others who are doing the same thing. So, the night of the Tribute parade when they met on the roof of the Training Center, she didn't take any of his bullshit and called him out on it. She was the only person to ever see through his act. He had also never met another person who was like him, so he and the Seam girl became something like friends that night. That friendship grew over the next three days of training and they would often meet on the roof at nighttime. The last night before the games, Katniss looked at him and said something that stayed with him.

"I wish we could have met under different circumstances, Cato. Maybe we could have helped each other." she says softly. She kisses him on the cheek then says goodbye and leaves the roof.

Then they were thrown into the games. Cato did what he was told to do all his life; kill. He killed six people.

And killing those people is the thing that haunts him every second of the day, especially the sound of their screams. Killing those people is why he is now standing at the edge of the water, an awaiting knife in his right hand and his legs ready to carry him into the water for the last time. The blade in his hand is different from normal knives. This one has poison in it and it will cause death in a mere matter of moments.

_And the arms of the ocean are carrying me_

_And all this devotion was rushing out of me_

_In the crushes of heaven for a sinner like me_

_But the arms of the ocean delivered me._

He and Katniss both won the 74th Hunger Games, simply because the people of the Capitol demanded them to. They saw the way Cato had saved Katniss from the tributes from District 4 and how Katniss had killed both Marvel and, shockingly, Peeta, her own district partner. Peeta had been tainted by the malicious Glimmer and he had turned against Katniss and joined the careers. When he eventually tried to kill Cato while he was sleeping, Katniss knew that he would be too dangerous to live in District 12. So, from her hiding spot in the tree, she shot Peeta through the heart with an arrow. Glimmer was furious and Clove quickly took the chance to slice her throat. She had never liked Glimmer.

The next day, Cato abandoned the careers and joined Katniss. That's what made the people of the Capitol begin to love them; to people from different worlds coming together to protect each other.

Cato wishes that he had never left that arena. If he had died there, he would never have to be haunted by the dead children that suffered the fate that should have been his.

_Though the pressure's hard to take_

_It's the only way I can escape_

_It seems a heavy choice to make_

_And now I am under all._

He takes another deep breath and raises the knife to his wrist. This will end it all; the nightmares, the voices of the dead children, the prostitution he was forced into after the games. He hates himself for leaving Katniss to defend herself alone in this world, but she's stronger than he ever was, she can survive this without him. He almost doesn't realize that the blade has slid down his wrist. Then it slides down the other one. Warm liquid soon seeps into his clothes. The effect of his actions are instantaneous. The poison is rushing through his veins and his head begins to spin and he finds himself stumbling forwards than crashing into the water. He notices that he is soon engulfed in a cloud of red and warm. His body is beginning to feel so weak that he soon finds himself slipping under the water.

_And it's breaking over me_

_A thousand miles down to the sea bed_

_Found the place to rest my head_

_Never let me go._

_And the arms of the ocean are carrying me_

_And all this devotion was rushing out of me_

_In the crushes of heaven for a sinner like me_

_But the arms of the ocean delivered me._

_And it's over_

_And I'm going under_

_But I'm not giving up_

_I'm just giving in,_

_I'm slipping underneath_

_So cold and so sweet._

The water is beginning to fill his mouth and slide down his throat. Even now, those constant voices and screams of the fallen tributes that haunt his mind are beginning to fade away. Maybe he can finally have the peace he's been desperate for since he won the games five years ago. Five years he's been living in this hell and now, now he'll be free.


End file.
